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Home » Features » Robert Downey Jr says his best work in MCU went unnoticed – A look at 5 underrated performances from the superhero realm

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Robert Downey Jr says his best work in MCU went unnoticed – A look at 5 underrated performances from the superhero realm

We list down 5 performances that went unnoticed in the superhero realm due to many varied reasons as Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr points out the debate.

Shubham Kulkarni

Jan 13, 2024

Daredevil, Iron Man, and Lex Luthor

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, DCEU, DCU, Fox X Marvel, Sony X Marvel, and several others have been existing for many decades now. Regardless of the quality of the content, they have been relevant for a very long time, and most of them continue to be areas of interest in some form or the other. There is still an audience that demands that sort of content. But lately, the conversation around superhero fatigue has taken over pop culture, and now Robert Downey Jr. has something to say about how unserious people are towards the genre he has made a name for.

To give you insight, the actor who made his superhero debut as Iron Man in 2008 and kick-started the MCU was in conversation, as per a The Hollywood Reporter report, where he spoke about most of his brilliant acting performances going unnoticed due to people not being serious about the superhero genre. “I felt so exposed after being in the cocoon of Marvel, where I think I did some of the best work I will ever do, but it went a little bit unnoticed because of the genre,” the actor explained.

“In a way, I did myself a favor because the rug was pulled so definitively out from underneath me and all the things that I was leaning on as opposed to what my understanding of confidence and security was, boy did they evaporate. And it rendered me teachable. And the crazy thing is they say, ‘When the student is ready, the teacher will come,’ and that’s what happened,” he added.

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So, we thought why not list down five of the most underrated performances from the superhero realm so that they might get some traction. Read on and watch these movies to experience these performances.

Jessie Eisenberg in Batman V Superman (2016)

Available On: Jio Cinema and Apple TV (on rent)

All of us have a pool of opinions about this Zack Snyder movie. Some love it, some hate it, but no one can deny the significance it had on the entire list of characters that existed in the DCEU Then. But if you look beyond Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, and Gal Gadot in the DC Civil War, there is one character that stood out, and it was Lex Luthor played by Jessie Eisenberg. A very interesting twist to the arc of the infamous DC villain, it was sort of an origin story for him. Jessie’s performance is top-class but it went unnoticed due to the chaotic debate around the movie.

Sophie Turner in Dark Phoenix (2019)

Available On: Disney+ Hotstar and Apple TV (on rent).

Dark Phoenix was a film that was introduced with a lot of positive buzz around it. But at the time of its release, it was lost in the pool of all other releases around it. While there is a whole lot of room for improvement and it is not really an amazing project, it still is a decent movie, and what makes it decent is the brilliant performance by Sophie Turner. The fact that this performance was shunned and not noticed because of the negativity the film received is what bothers many. Turner brought out the vulnerabilities and emotions of the character so well.

Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Available On: Jio Cinema.

There was so much noise around The Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan was making the last film of his coveted trilogy. There was Christian Bale but no Heath Ledger. Tom Hardy decided to take the job to be the villain after the fan frenzy that Ledger’s Joker has enjoyed. There was going to be criticism, and it did come to Hardy. Audience members were quick to say that Tom was a downgrade from Heath. But now if you look back, it is a performance that should have been appreciated and given the deserved due.

Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Available On: Disney+ Hotstar.

Okay, many of you will come at us for including Edward on the list, but look at the film minus the controversies attached to it, and you will know the power of his performance. He was technically introducing Hulk to the live-action world for the first time; it was his origin story and Norton played the part so well that the crescendo did affect the viewer. The movie felt so organic even with a character that could have gone wrong in so many ways.

Ben Affleck in Daredevil (2003)

Available On: Apple TV (on rent).

This has to be one of the most forgotten superhero performances ever in the history of the genre. Many might not even know or recall that Ben Affleck was the actor who played Daredevil much before Charlie Cox marked it in his namesake Netflix show. While he is not the best Daredevil, Ben Affleck did put his heart into bringing the humaneness of this character alive on the big screen. The performance was a mix of trying to have a mystery while balancing the anger, and Affleck was good at it.

Stay tuned to OTTplay for more content like this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.

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